Machine to machine (M2M) communication may be variously referred to as a machine type communication (MTC), Internet of things (IoT), a smart device communication (SDC), or a machine oriented communication (MOC). The M2M communication refers to any communication scheme which does not require human intervention in the process of communication. Meanwhile, in the M2M communication, communication patterns may differ according to markets or applications to be applied and/or corresponding services to be used. Particularly, the M2M communication may not require that a communication connection is always established. Furthermore, information or data associated with the M2M communication may be transmitted or received with or without a constant pattern. In the M2M communication having the above-described characteristics, a networking operation may be required to be efficiently performed according to (i) characteristics of a corresponding M2M entity and/or (ii) characteristics of functions (or capabilities) provided by the corresponding M2M entity.
Various M2M devices to which new M2M area network technologies such as WiFi, P2P, Zigbee and/or Bluetooth are applied (i.e., M2M devices having various network interfaces) have been developed. Typically, when an existing M2M gateway cannot support new interfaces of the various M2M devices, it may be necessary to install and operate separate M2M gateways. However, in this case, additional cost may be involved in association with the installation of separate M2M gateways. Furthermore, it may be required to additionally implement interfaces for interworking among a plurality of M2M gateways.